PHILADELPHIA – This afternoon at Meiklejohn Stadium, the University of Pennsylvania baseball team closed out a record-breaking season. The Quakers showed their resilience until the final pitch of the season. Knowing it needed a sweep and some additional help, Penn took the first two games of the series, including a 5-2 come from behind win in the first game of today's doubleheader.
 
The Red and Blue were outlasted in the series finale, however. Penn's record-breaking offense hit the ball all over the field in game two of the twin bill, but defensive shifts and solid plays by the Lions prevented Penn from scoring as Columbia took the series finale, 4-0.
 
GAME 1: PENN 5, COLUMBIA 2
WP: Mitchell Holcomb (6-1)
LP: Dan Harrington (1-2)
 
GAME 2: PENN 0, COLUMBIA 4
WP: Ethan Abrams (3-2)
LP: Kevin Eaise (2-3)
S: Leo Pollack (2)
 
NOTES
*Sean Phelan closed out his Penn career today, but his legacy will be remembered in the record books. Phelan holds the program record for appearances (168) and starts (167), ranks second in career hits (200), and ranks third in career doubles (47). This season, he led the team in hits (65) and doubles (18).
 
*Matt O'Neill set a program record for walks in a season after drawing his 40th of the year today. He has the most walks in program history, reaching base on balls 100 times over his four-year career. Entering the weekend, he ranked second in the nation with a .538 on-base percentage. He closes out his career with a .312 batting average after leading the Quakers with a .405 average this season.
 
*Grant Guillory pitched his final inning for the Quakers after a shutout inning in the bottom of the ninth in the series finale against Columbia. He finishes his career with a 4.68 ERA after 75 innings pitched in 54 appearances. The senior was tough to hit, holding opponents to a .159 batting average this season.
 
*The Quakers closed out a record-breaking offensive season with the third-best team batting average in program history, hitting .334 on the season. Penn entered the weekend ranked second in the nation in batting average and has ranked second for the past five weeks.
 
*Against Cornell, Penn broke the program record for hits in a season. The Quakers ended up crushing the record, finishing the season with 533 hits—71 more than the previous record of 462 set in 2010. The Quakers also set the program record for doubles in a season, as a pair of doubles today gave Penn 109 doubles this year.
 
*Four Penn players finished the season with 60 or more hits. Phelan led Penn with 65 hits, followed by O'Neill and Peter Matt with 64 and Josh Hood with 60.
 
*Nine Penn players finished the season with a batting average of .300 or higher after 50 at-bats. O'Neill led Penn with a .405 average, followed by Chris Adams (.371), Phelan (.363), Eduardo Malinowski (.354), Hood (.331), Matt (.328), Craig Larsen (.322), Tommy Courtney (.316), and Jackson Petersen (.309).
 
*Larsen finished the season as Penn's leader in RBI with 44. It is the most RBI by a freshman in Penn history.
 
*Matt had a career year in his junior season. Starting all 41 of Penn's games at right field, Matt led Penn and the Ivy League in runs (46) and posted a career high batting average (.328) with career highs in hits (64), doubles (10), triples (6), RBI (35), slugging percentage (.456), on-base percentage (.391), and posted a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage with 97 putouts and 7 assists.
 
*Holcomb earned his sixth win of the season with a solid outing in game one of the doubleheader with Columbia. He went 6.1 innings with two runs allowed on nine hits with eight strikeouts. He closed out his season with a career-low 3.76 ERA with career highs in wins (6), innings pitched (64.2), and strikeouts (51).
 
*Holcomb and Scafidi are the only pair of pitchers with at least six wins each in the last ten years for Penn. The two starters each went 6-1 this year.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: GAME 1
Penn struck first in the first game of the twin bill. Back to back singles by Matt and Adams put runners on the corner at the start of the fourth. Larsen put Penn on the board with a fielder's choice, allowing Matt to score from third. The Quakers loaded the bases after drawing a couple walks, but back to back strikeouts after a Columbia pitching change stranded all three runners.
 
The missed opportunity would come back to haunt the Quakers. Columbia led off the fifth with a double, then put runners on the corners after a single through the right side. The Lions knotted the game at 1-1 as a single through the left side allowed the baserunner to score from third. Columbia took the lead later in the inning with an RBI single to center to make it 2-1.
 
Holcomb bunkered down and held the Lions to four straight scoreless innings after the two-run fifth inning. Penn struggled to get any offense going, but a big-time surge in the bottom of the eighth gave the Quakers a new lease at life.
 
Matt lead off with a double to center. Adams tied the game with a single into the gap in right center, plating Matt. After Larsen drew a walk, Courtney moved two runners into scoring position as a sac bunt put Adams on third and Larsen on second. McGeagh put Penn in front with a sac fly to right field, allowing Adams to score to make it 3-2. On the following at-bat O'Neill crushed a ball over the wall in right center for his 20th career home run, giving the Quakers a 5-2 lead.
 
After a leadoff single, Holcomb forced Columbia into a double play, then ended the game with his eighth strikeout of the day.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: GAME 2
The Lions looked to rectify their woes in the first two games of the series by taking an early lead. A pair of RBI singles in the first and second innings gave Columbia a 2-0 lead. John Alan Kendrick entered the game in the second and blanked the visitors from the third through seventh innings.
 
Penn repeatedly had chances to get on the board, but just couldn't place the ball into the right part of the field. The Quakers got seven hits on the day and struck out just once. Defensive shifts and impressive plays by the Columbia fielders shut out Penn for just the second time this season.
 
The Lions doubled their led in the top of the eighth after a solo home run and an RBI single to right. Two consecutive 1-2-3 innings for Penn in the eighth and ninth innings spelled the end of a historic season, ending the Quakers' chance for an Ivy League Championship Series bid.
 
Penn finishes its season with a 23-18 record—its best record since 2014—with an 11-10 record in Ivy League play.